Offense coming slowly for UT's West

By Ryan Callahan
of The Daily Times Staff

KNOXVILLE -- Daniel West still has some work to do before the competition for the starting point guard position on the University of Tennessee basketball team officially begins this fall.

Most of it will come in the weight room, where the slender, 6-foot-1 freshman never really got the chance to spend any time at Saginaw (Mich.) High School.

The rest of his efforts might be aimed at a more recent problem.

West, who is expected to compete with junior-college transfer Bobby Maze for a starting job this season, has struggled offensively through the first three weeks of the Rocky Top Basketball League at Bearden High School.

Fellow Tennessee signees Scotty Hopson and Maze routinely have put up big numbers in the high-scoring, defense-optional summer league -- Hopson had 38 points for his Ray's ESG team on Thursday, and teammate Maze added 35 -- but it hasn't come as easy for West.

A self-described pass-first point guard, West has averaged only 8.4 points in his five games with the undefeated HT Group team and scored a summer-low two points Thursday in a 119-96 win over Richardson Construction.

The low scoring totals, he said Thursday, are a reflection of the quality -- not necessarily the quantity -- of his shots.

"If I'm shooting like this in the season, I've got to work on my shot," said West, who was 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-3 from 3-point range on Thursday.

"I ain't never missed this many 3s. ... Those are shots I know I can hit. I don't know why they're not falling."

West's teammates have been just as puzzled.

"We know he can knock the shot down," said Volunteers junior forward Tyler Smith, HT Group's leading scorer. "When we play open gyms, he's knocking them down. I don't know what's wrong out here."

No one can complain about the more noticeable strengths of West's game.

A two-time state champion at Saginaw High, West considers himself a bit of a defensive specialist. As a senior, he averaged 18 points, nine rebounds and seven steals, taking advantage of coach Lou Dawkins' persistent full-court pressure.

"Up 40, we were still pressing," West said.

That might help explain one of West's most impressive plays Thursday night.

His team nursing a 20-point lead with less than a minute remaining, West recorded his third and final steal by leaping to intercept a backcourt pass near the right sideline and turning in midair to save it to a nearby teammate.

"I always focus on defense," West said. "That's what wins games and wins championships. Defense, basically, it makes you get points, so you need to play hard on defense. ... That's what (Dawkins) taught me when we played."

Vols junior guard Josh Tabb, who scored nine points for Richardson Construction on Thursday, said he's been pleasantly surprised with West's rebounding ability. West finished with eight assists and four rebounds on Thursday.

"He plays D, and he hits the boards a lot," Tabb said. "That's what I like about him. He's little, but he can hit the boards. He won't back down from anybody. ...

"That's what you like to see from a freshman coming in. He'll be a nice player in a couple of years."

How much West can contribute next season remains unsettled with Maze, a junior-college All-American who spent his freshman year at Oklahoma, having emerged as the likely frontrunner to start at point guard after the offseason dismissal of rising junior Ramar Smith.

Departed senior Jordan Howell, 6-foot-7 Arizona transfer J.P. Prince and Ramar Smith all started at point guard for UT last season.

"(West) is more of a point guard like we need," Tyler Smith said. "He really likes to pass the ball, kick it out ahead. He's got quick hands as far as defense. That's something that we're going to need next year. ...

"Bobby's more of an offensive threat, more of a vocal-type player as far as a leader. Daniel's pretty laid-back, but he's just a freshman, too. He's going to learn. Being behind Bobby will be a great experience for him."

West, who's listed at 165 pounds but says he currently weighs 176, is more worried about bulking up during the rest of the offseason.

"Where I'm from, we don't even have weights," he said. "We just run. That's why I can run. But weights, that ain't me. That's what I'm working on right now."

In the meantime, West said, figuring out where he fits in the Vols' plans this season isn't his biggest concern.

That might change once his shots start falling again.

"All this me and (Maze) competing against each other -- that's my teammate," West said. "I ain't worried about that. I'm just trying to win games."